We Take a Fall Trip to Yellowstone N.P. Part 3

 

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Day 3....Today we moved from the Kelly Inn and Suites in West Yellowstone to the Canyon Lodge located inside the national park. We had reservations for the Rhyolite Lodge, one of the buildings in the Canyon Lodge complex. Until we could check in mid afternoon, we were back out on the roads heading in a northeast to southeast direction today. On the map, the area we were exploring is called Canyon Village. There are waterfalls there, and the not-to-be-missed Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, an amazing geological feature within walking distance of the lodge IF you were up for about a mile hike. 

the hike to lower falls

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is spectacular in its own way, with a BIG waterfall in the middle, and viewing points at the top of the falls and towards the lower falls. You can hike your way up or down, they are short distances of less than a mile. What Sparky forgot is the elevation factor of 8,000 feet. While hiking down to the lower falls from the parking lot, which was a steep decline and NOT wheelchair friendly, she neglected to think about hiking back UP. Needless to say, for a 3/4 mile hike, it was arduous coming back up but well worth it to see the falls and the canyon. She thought her heart was going to beat right out of her chest! She stopped many times on the climb back up. Whew! The falls were spectacular whether you were looking at them from up above or down below.

Here is another view....

A view of the canyon from higher up at the falls viewing platform...

We hopped back into the car and continued our drive south towards Fishing Bridge. On the way, we passed through Hayden Valley which Sparky remembered reading some blogs about the foxes in that valley and the Lamar valley. Sure enough, we saw a red fox. Look-- a coyote photobombing in the meadow! Coyotes do kill foxes sometimes for food or to eliminate competition for resources. Hope this pretty fox was not going to be dinner!

Lots of bison along the way, crossing the road with their calves...

We arrived at Fishing Bridge, which is a historical area and facility complex inside the park. There is an RV park there, a visitor center, and a store. It's named for its famous old bridge but fishing is prohibited now. Maybe because of this? Haha...This big guy passed right by our car on the bridge. Eldy could have reached out and touched him easily. A "Touron"--a tourist who is a moron, on the other side of the road coming towards us, actually reached out his window and touched another bison following behind. The bison startled and jumped back in defense. Sparky yelled out, "YOU DUMB****!!!" (She's not holding back in her senior years, explains a sheepish Eldo.) Luckily, for the touron, nothing happened. He's lucky the bison didn't head butt the car!

right next to our car!

After exploring the area, we headed further south, past West Thumb, which includes more mudpots, boiling springs, and geysers, heading back to Canyon Lodge. It was a beautiful day, full of wildlife, and wonderful weather. One more day to go....see you tomorrow!

We Take a Fall Trip to Yellowstone National Park! Part I

Sparky loves it when Eldo decides we need a change of scenery, he more so than she. She works in the schools at least three to four days a week, he stays home and researches on the computer and learns all kinds of random things on Youtube but mainly about travel--how to travel using points, best destinations for reasonable vacation costs, how to travel in style on a budget, how to manage points for hotel stays and flights, you get the picture. Eldo is VERY good at it. He plots and plans for WEEKS usually. He has accumulated a LOT of points thru credit card usage and using the right card when charging things to get bonus points, etc.,  and has helped Sparky visit her daughter in Houston for almost zero cost mainly using travel points. A WIN! 

So weeks and weeks ago, he started a research project for somewhere we could go during Sparky's October Fall school break--five days off of school and where should we go? He never gets specific until he's got some terrific, frugal costs for a destination and amazing flight bargains. Sparky heard off and on about Carribbean cruises, trips out west, fall trip to Alaska, (OOOOOHHHH, YEAH!)-- but too cold for Eldo, maybe a midwest trip to the U.P.?--you name it, he was investigating it. He was waiting to see how Sparky's health was, too, as far as planning longer flights and traveling. Sparky is doing well with her cancer, it's not in remission, but no new activity and that's good. Lots of bathroom problems but she never knows when that is going to happen, and that's bad, so he took that into consideration. He waited till Sparky had the all clear on her echocardiogram, the latest test, and within a day of getting those positive results, he booked a trip for us to Yellowstone National Park! The park shuts down for a couple of weeks at the end of October, (October 31st) to prepare for winter visitors, so we had several days of reduced visitation in the park, plenty of room to park at the viewing points, and somehow, we got extremely lucky with the weather. It was milder than normal for that time of year and sunny every single day. It was brisk (in the twenties or low thirties in the early mornings, then it would warm up to the 50's-60's during the day.

The flights were free using points, and points also paid for our rental car. We stayed for two nights outside the national park in West Yellowstone at the Kelly Inn and Suites, then our last two days were at Canyon Village Lodge inside the park, close to Old Faithful. 

We flew from Indy to Dallas, to Bozeman, MT. These crop circles were so interesting to see from the sky on our flight west!

The Bozeman International Airport was so beautiful, lots of wood beams and western decor. And our first bison sighting! haha...

Coming into the airport was an experience in itself with the beautiful mountain backdrop through the airport windows.

Kelly Inn and Suites

It was a 90 mile drive from the airport to West Yellowstone, the town we stayed in the first two days. The Kelly Inn and Suites had beautiful western decor and the outside was just as interesting as the inside! They had multiple bears that were wooden or plaster(?) sculptures climbing up the outside walls of the hotel!

Just as soon as we checked in, we were off for our first drive on the main road through Yellowstone N.P. to see some geysers and go looking for wildlife.  The park was being run by emergency personnel as the government was in the middle of the shutdown. Our gate attendant was an EMT and we thanked him for helping keep the park open.

As far as exploring the park, we got a map from the park station entrance and for each day we plotted out a different route-working our way north then east, then the next couple of days east and then south, looking and marveling at everything we saw. Our last day we ventured into Teton National Park. This was our second visit to Yellowstone in many many years.

The very first day our tally was: 4 bison, 5 elk, a bald eagle and a herd of elk with one bull male. Sparky got so many bison photos that she isn't sure which day which bison were seen, but it was every day! The elk were usually quite close to the side of the roads....Or there would be large herds out in the meadows grazing. 

The features of the park are many....there are over 10,000 thermal features there, the world's largest concentration of geysers, colorful hot springs, bubbling mud pots, and fumeroles (hissing steam vents). Geysers erupt sporadically or sort of regularly (Old Faithful, 23 minutes late the day we saw it),  The hotsprings were amazing--they are pools of hot water-the most famous being the Grand Prismatic Spring and Morning Glory pool. They are the most common thermal feature in the park. They vary from roiling, boiling hot water to clear and calm pools with great depth and color. They have no constrictions so water rises, cools and sinks easily.

the edge of Grand Prismatic Spring

The mudpots are hot springs where acid from volcanic gases and microorganisms decomose the surrounding rock into clay and bubbling mud. Mudpots are also hot springs with a limited water supply. The smell of sulphur in the air was overpowering!

One of our favorites was the fumeroles, the hissing steam vents. We saw a very powerful one in the park while we were there, and it was very LOUD! It was a ROAR of hissing steam! They are the hottest features in the park. The small amount of water in the fumarole flashes into steam before it reaches the surface. Fumeroles hiss, whistle or thump if the pathway is restricted at the surface. 

The one disadvantage we had while visiting-the days were so chilly during the day, even with the sun out, sometimes the steam made the air so cloudy, it was difficult to see the beautiful waters of the springs. But Sparky managed to get a couple of decent photos on one day when we retraced out drive before the clouds of steam enveloped everything.

Morning glory Pool

She caught this photo that captured the surrealness of the steam and the early morning vibes at the park. It's one of her favorites, another tourist enjoying the scenery.

The first day was a very promising start to a wonderful trip. Be sure to check out the rest of our journey in the coming days....Thanks for reading!